Kordyaka Bastian, Laato Samuli, Weber Sebastian, Niehaves Bjoern
Working Group Digital Public, Faculty 3 - Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
Gamification Group, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
Front Psychol. 2023 Jun 16;14:1193172. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1193172. eCollection 2023.
Toxic behavior (i.e., toxicity) is a pervasive problem in online gaming communities such as League of Legends. This issue arises from factors such as frustrating and stressful in-game experiences and online disinhibition. Prior research on addressing toxicity has focused primarily on the perpetrators and how to mitigate their negative behavior and the consequences. The aim of this study was to approach toxicity from the perspective of the victims instead, and consequently, to investigate the factors that contribute to the experience of victimhood in multiplayer online battle arena games.
A global sample of League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients 2 players (=313) was collected to test hypotheses based on three theoretical approaches drawn from previous work, namely, the online disinhibition effect, social cognitive theory and theory of planned behavior. Participants were asked to complete a survey that included variables related to the three theoretical approaches.
The results of the study indicated that self-efficacy, and benign and toxic disinhibition, were the most relevant antecedents for the experience of being a victim of toxicity. Accordingly, the findings thus suggest that players with low self-efficacy and high online disinhibition may be more likely to experience victimhood in multiplayer online battle arena games. In general, insights based on our study demonstrate that individual characteristics partially explain why some players are more susceptible to toxic behavior than others.
The study's results have practical implications for game developers and policymakers, particularly in the areas of community management and player education. For example, game developers may consider incorporating self-efficacy training and disinhibition reduction programs into their games. Overall, this study contributes to the growing body of literature on toxicity in online gaming communities and invites further research into toxicity from the perspective of the victims.
不良行为（即毒性行为）是《英雄联盟》等网络游戏社区中普遍存在的问题。这个问题源于游戏中令人沮丧和紧张的体验以及网络去抑制等因素。先前关于解决毒性行为的研究主要集中在作恶者以及如何减轻他们的负面行为和后果上。本研究的目的是从受害者的角度来探讨毒性行为，从而调查在多人在线战斗竞技游戏中导致成为受害者体验的因素。
收集了《英雄联盟》和《刀塔2》玩家的全球样本（n = 313），以基于先前研究的三种理论方法来检验假设，即网络去抑制效应、社会认知理论和计划行为理论。参与者被要求完成一项调查，其中包括与这三种理论方法相关的变量。
研究结果表明，自我效能感以及良性和毒性去抑制是成为毒性行为受害者体验的最相关的前因。因此，研究结果表明，自我效能感低且网络去抑制程度高的玩家在多人在线战斗竞技游戏中更有可能成为受害者。总体而言，基于我们研究的见解表明，个体特征部分解释了为什么一些玩家比其他玩家更容易受到毒性行为的影响。
该研究结果对游戏开发者和政策制定者具有实际意义，特别是在社区管理和玩家教育领域。例如，游戏开发者可能会考虑在他们的游戏中纳入自我效能感培训和减少去抑制的计划。总体而言，本研究为关于网络游戏社区中毒性行为的不断增长的文献做出了贡献，并呼吁从受害者的角度对毒性行为进行进一步研究。
